2025-10-15 nz registrar news in October 2025: IRS release dates, Registrar Summit recording and more.
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**Kia ora!**

Welcome to the .nz registrar update. You are receiving it because you are subscribed to the .nz registry updates. 

In today’s email: 

 * IRS release announcement
 * Registrar summit 2025 recordings
 * Welcome Business Operations Lead
 * .nz Rules consultation summary
 * Holiday change freeze dates
 * NetTalks in Christchurch this month

**Important dates**

 * **10 November:** IRS 9.6 OTE release 
 * **21 November:** deadline for reporting testing outcomes to the .nz team
 * **30 November:** IRS 9.6 production release
 * **13 December 2025 - 7 January 2026:** change freeze

**IRS 9.6 release**

We are preparing for the next IRS release. This release includes all revisions and updates made since version 9.0. The planned schedule for this release is:

 * 10 November 2025 — 9.6 release into OTE/testing
 * 30 November 2025 — 9.6 release into Production 

The release change log will be published on the `InternetNZ Product Documentation website <https://docs.internetnz.nz/registry/IRS_change_log>`_ by 10 November 2025.

Registrars have 10 working days, between 10 and 21 November 2025, to complete testing of their processes before the release is implemented in production, and we strongly encourage you to do so. While testing can continue beyond this period, any release changes that registrars believe could pose a significant risk must be reported to InternetNZ by the end of the day (NZDT) on November 21, 2025.

**Registrar Summit 2025 recordings**

It was great to meet so many of you in person at the .nz Registrar Summit in Christchurch last month. The engagement and feedback received were extremely valuable.

If you didn’t have a chance to attend, but would like to catch up on the recordings and slides, we have them ready for you. Please feel free to email registry@internetnz.net.nz and request copies.


**Welcome David Parker**

We’re pleased to announce that David Parker joined the .nz team as Business Operations Lead last month. David comes to us from Kiwibank, where he was Head of Marketing & Digital. Prior to that, he held a number of senior product and strategy roles in Xero. David will be working closely with Tim Johnson, Maria, Sonya and the rest of the team as we shape up our plans for the next financial year.

**.nz Rules consultation closed**

The latest round of .nz Rules public consultation closed on 1 October. We received 12 submissions from registrars and the Internet community, which are now available on the InternetNZ website.

`Consultation Page <https://internetnz.nz/nz-domains/nz-rules/consultations-have-your-say/>`_

**Change freeze over the holidays**

Our change freeze window for the holiday period this year is from **13 December 2025 to 7 January 2026**. During this time, there will be no registry product releases or unplanned changes to our product infrastructure. Engineers will be on-call to address operational and security incidents with the existing infrastructure, should they arise. The change freeze thaws on 7 January, and we’ll be back to business as usual.

**NetTalks in Christchurch - you are invited!**

Are you a Christchurch-based registrar? Our new event, NetTalks, is coming to Christchurch on October 31. It’s quickfire talks on tech with networking on the side. Six speakers, six minutes each, six different perspectives on our digital world. Doors open at 5.30 pm for networking, talks start at 6 pm, and we’d love you to stick around afterwards for a free drink, nibbles and chats. 

`Learn More <https://internetnz.nz/events/nettalks/>`_ about NetTalks.

Kind regards | Ngā mihi,

**.nz team at InternetNZ**